Christian Sympathy
Rev. Robert E Overstreet

 

Rev. Robert E. Overstreet died on October 9, 2024

Robert was born in 1934 in Gardner, Massachusetts, the son of Samuel & Lillian Overstreet. His father became a military chaplain during World War II and the Korean War, and Robert moved with his family around the country. He graduated from high school in Ayer, Massachusetts in 1952, and from Wake Forest College, North Carolina in 1956. As a student, Bob was active in the college radio station and in the Baptist Student Union, and was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity. Following college, Robert entered Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, Massachusetts where he prepared for the Christian Ministry. While at seminary he married his college sweetheart, Vivian Butler, of Salem, NJ. 

Mr. Overstreet was ordained to ministry in 1959, and the couple moved to Plymouth, Massachusetts where Rev. Overstreet was called as Pastor of the First Baptist Church. He was awarded the Bachelor of Divinity degree the following year, and later would earn the degrees Master of Sacred Theology and Doctor of Ministry. Two sons, David & Keith, were born in Plymouth.

In 1966 Rev. Overstreet moved with his family to Westwood, Massachusetts where he was Pastor at First Baptist Church until 1972 when the family moved to Mt. Lebanon, PA where Dr. Overstreet was Senior Minister of the Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church. During his ministry there, he served as an officer in the Pittsburgh Baptist Association, and on the boards of several civic organizations. He was a past-president of the Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Rotary Club. In 1984 Rev. Overstreet moved with his wife to his home state where he became an Area Minister for the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts.

Rev. Overstreet retired from active ministry in 1999. He and his wife returned to the Pittsburgh area and settled in South Fayette to be near family and friends. In retirement, Rev. Overstreet served as visiting preacher for churches in the Pittsburgh Baptist Association, as a volunteer at the Baptist Homes of Western Pennsylvania, and as Interim Pastor at First Baptist Church of Washington, PA.

Following the death of his wife in 2012, Rev. Overstreet moved to Friendship Village of the South Hills where he joined the Drama Club, the Troubadours (men’s choral group), and the Vespers Choir. He was an avid reader, and he enjoyed listening to Dixieland jazz, Broadway musicals, and the big band sound. In his personal as well as pastoral life, Bob was a caring friend and neighbor. He was a loving husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather.

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